The systems currently in use for preventing use by others of stolen or lost credit cards are essentially all alike. They primarily rely upon the holder or user's name and account number that are embossed on the card. Some cards have art designs, holograms, and some identification cards have added a photo of the user. Professionals who have been making fake passports for years would have no problem with changing the photo on a card, as they do on a passport. The photo works to the advantage of the fake card maker because it adds another level of authenticity to the fake card.
Credit card companies usually require for security against loss or theft, that the card be signed on the reverse side by the user/holder. This signature is compared by the sales clerk with the signature on the sales receipt which must be signed by the purchaser. If the signatures match, then the card is deemed to be valid and is accepted for credit. But these systems have not been entirely effective, according to reports from banks and others who issue credit cards. Such institutions have reported large losses through unauthorized use of credit cards by other than the owners. A person planning illegal use of a credit card having a signature on the back can practice writing the signature. Few of the forgers are caught. So the rate of lost and stolen cards is high and reportedly going higher while the issuing companies continue to pay for unauthorized charges against cards until the user learns that his card is missing and reports it to the issuing company or bank.
By contrast, the identification card and system of this invention is effective in stopping illegal use of the card in the first instance, that is before it can happen. When the card containing the security devices of this invention is presented for identification or payment at a business place, the card is inserted into a detection apparatus that compares the appearance and other personal data of the person who is presenting the card with, for example, front and side photos of the card holder, display of the card holder's driver's license, the card holder's signature, his social security number and phone number; all concealed within a distorted image on or in the credit card. The display at the store displays the distorted information in a restoring control signal that restores the distorted information to a clear decoded display. This display can be compared directly with the person presenting the card to determine with assurance that the presenter is the owner of the card.
While the probability of look alikes is remote, the system of this invention displays such complete and authentic identifying information, usable by the person verifying the card, that the verifying person can make an unquestionable decision regarding the person presenting the card. In addition, a person that is illegally presenting a lost or stolen card and has not seen the card owner's signature, as the signature is not on the surface of the card, but is hidden in the card, must realize, when he signs the sales slip, that in writing a false signature, he is committing attempted forgery as well as attempted theft of money or merchandise in use of the card, and that both of these illegal acts will be revealed immediately to the store clerk when he presses the card into the slot. These illegal acts will end when these special cards come into general use.